"São ..." a São Tomé and Príncipe Travel Page by Ekahau

São Tomé is descried as having a Christian tradition for 4 centuries and “I know his is so because it has for the same four centuries probable the most brutal history of mans inhumanity to man” of almost any were on the face of the earth.

São Tomé had an inhuman Portuguese penal colony, slavery with the highest death rates in the world, the place the Portuguese sent their Jewish “orphans” (this is the population that makes up the majority of the current 'mestizos', or Creoles). São Tomé was one of the last places on earth to officially give up slaver ( Saudi Arabia was the last) but this was replace by a even more brutal “contract labor until death system”. In fact a national holiday is celebrated on the anniversary of the 1953 Batepá Massacre" when the goverment of Portugal put down a revolt of "contract labor" and several hundred people died. That right right up to the 1970s a system of "slavery" went on.

But that being said it is a VT destination of great interest to folks like me because of its remote but amazing beauty. In recent years it even has became a very posh resort tourist destination for the folks who like to do a “within the walls holiday resort trip to the isolated tropical beaches”

São Tomé and Príncipe have beautiful unspoiled diving, beaches to die for that have not been walked on by a tourist in 100 years, Portuguese forts estates and buildings that are some of the best examples in the world. Fort of São Sebastião is considered one of the very best and most well preserved colonial Portuguese forts in the world. The Bello Monte estate on the island of Principe, a beautiful Portuguese estate and mansion and the Agustinho Neto Mansion in São Tomé wow what beautiful Portuguese colonial history.